A rural street, it is believed to be a street in Castell d’Empordà or Santa Pau, which would link him to his land of origin from where he would leave young due to poverty and problems with a stepmother.

Under his brush, this rural street approach presents itself to us as a self-contained theme. It starts from a completely linear composition, making use of the traditional perspective of lines of fugue confluent in an imaginary point, heir to the Renaissance. Walls, roofs, windows, the street with its unevenness, even shadows can be marked with a ruler. This great structure leaves the characters who go unnoticed without interest.

Composition with unprecedented lighting. which allows us to speculate on the time of day, the twilight hour, when the sun nuances the color of the walls, roofs of the houses at the same time as the sky, thus unifying the tonal value of the painting. Exercise of shadows and light that on both sides of the street, on the rectangular buildings the light is reflected, compensated in the center and on the sides by the shadow of the houses.

Year 1872

Oil on canvas

33x43 cm.

Benet Mercadé, 1821 - 1897